Quality, not quantity: Michael Schaeffer on painting, accordions, and savoring life
This local artist is not out to trumpet the newest art fads, but to enjoy the act of making that is and has always been essential to the painting process.
Michael Schaeffer doesn’t try to be dapper. He just is.
With a handlebar ‘stache and woolen cap (what he calls “Peaky Blinders style”), this artist’s personal panache is one part local thrift and two parts 1930’s dandy. He collects old photographs, local art, and accordions. The man not only paints, but is quite the accomplished musician. His life bestrides a DIY independence and an appreciation for old-fashioned hard work.
Schaeffer’s studio practice similarly harkens to the past. His oil paintings exude an unabashed admiration for Abstract Expressionism: thick slops of colors collide with scratches, drips and rudimentary letters. Schaeffer’s figurative works meld faces, words and scribbles, and conjure the sad and comical portraits of Larry Rivers, Jim Nutt, and Peter Blake.
“I’m interested in carrying on a tradition,” says Schaeffer, “but doing something new or different, even in the subtlest way.”
That “subtlest way” guides a lot of Schaeffer’s creative life. He’s not out to trumpet the newest art fads, but to enjoy the act of making that is and has always been essential to the painting process. He’s very much the painter’s painter, and simply wants to enjoy what he does.
“I want to savor more. For me it’s about being creative, not having to feel like being creative. I want to paint,” he says. “I don’t want to have to paint.”
When it comes to the accordion, Schaeffer has to maintain a regimented rotation of practices, gigs, and private lessons. In contrast, studio time is more conditioned by inspiration. Schaeffer advocates for consistency, but his idea of consistency has changed over the years.
“People think to be disciplined you have to sink everything into [your work], and be ridiculously dedicated. But just be consistent and… always work in the direction that feeds your passion,” he says. “So, if you want to be an artist, sure, you need to be in the studio. But do the things that feed the work, too. Does that mean going on a hike? Getting a cup of coffee? Always be willing to get out of your routine.”
A seasoned self-employed artist, Schaeffer spent years doing the leg work. He garnered representation from LaFontsee Galleries in 1995. Steady art sales eventually led to a second gallery in Nashville, TN in 2016. Schaeffer also cultivated a healthy income based on accordion performances, lessons, and a repair/sales business. This slow security has flourished over a long period of time. For Schaeffer it’s about pursuing a quality of life, rather than making a certain amount of money.
Schaeffer’s neatly organized studio bears witness to the care and contentment he has for his work. A custom-made paint tube holder is efficiently stationed across from his easel in a compact basement studio. Canvas upon canvas line a deftly constructed shelving system beyond a narrow footpath. Works on paper hang from a complex wire system suspended in front of his small library of cataloged art books. Everything has its place (which happens to be positioned at an exact 90 degrees to the thing next to it). No surface is wasted, no label missing.
But, if you pare away all of it, Schaeffer is a minimalist at heart.
Gesturing to his compressed studio cubicle, he confesses, “You have to be responsible for all these objects. When I take out trash, there’s this liberating sense of, ’Oh, I got rid of stuff.’ When I die I want to be that person that only has one object left in their possession.”
He told me this while I was snuggled in a mini-armchair under a forest of draping paper. Surrounded by stuff. And still, I believe him.
Schaeffer really does have his focus set on quality of life—even though there’s quite a bit of quantity that will be hanging around the studio for a while.
See more of Michael Schaeffer’s work on his website.
Or experience it in person at LaFontsee Galleries.
The culturedGR members, as part of the monthly artist studio visits, are visiting Schaeffer’s studio this Thursday evening, March 29. Join the membership program before Thursday to join them—membership dues start as little as the cost of a cup of your favorite fancy coffee. All the details here.
